Erase the Past
by AlienBlondie
Summary: Cloud has done everything he can to leave hos old life behind, and it seemed like he had finally done it. He had a perfect job, perfect home, perfect friends, and a perfect lover. But now the past is coming back with a vengeance. Will Cloud be able to hold on to the life he's created for himself?


Cloud had finally done it.

He had left his shitty old life behind.

All of it.

Gone.

Cloud had completely built a new life for himself. No trace of his old life. No one would ever know where he came from. He would never have to deal with those horrible villagers ever again. Except...

No.

_'Don't think about them,' _he thought to himself. He was fine on his own.

Fifteen going on sixteen, Cloud had been away from his village for almost two years, and he had done damn well for himself, if he did say so himself. He had traveled to Midgar all on his own (an impressive feat for a fourteen year old), and had gone straight to the Shinra Company to join SOLDIER.

That's where Cloud met him. Sephiroth._ The _Sephiroth. At the time, Cloud's idol, but now, Cloud's boyfriend.

In all of Cloud's wildest dreams, he had never thought that the Demon of Wutai would one day become his lover. Cloud hadn't even thought of Sephiroth in that way before. In fact, at the time Cloud had only discovered Sephiroth the year before he started his journey to Midgar and resolved to be a hero like him. That's the reason he joined Shinra in hopes of making SOLDIER.

Sephiroth had been a goal for him, an idol to surpass. Cloud had never pictured him as a future lover, that is, until he first saw him in real life, not a photograph. Photographs had _nothing _on Sephiroth. Photographs don't show his perfectly unmarked, porcelain skin. Photographs don't show how his hair glows when it catches the light. Photographs don't show his always strong expression. Photographs don't show all the masked emotion in his pale green eyes. Photographs never give Sephiroth credit where credit is due.

Even after first really seeing Sephiroth, Cloud still didn't think of him as a potential lover. After all, he was straight, right? There was still Tifa back in-

No.

_'Never again. That was another life.'_ Cloud repeated his same phrase every time he came close to remembering... _that_.

That other life was one that had been completely erased from Cloud's past. He had promised himself that the moment he arrived in Migar, it would be like the past fourteen years of his life never happened.

And Cloud's word ran true. He destroyed whatever record he could find of himself and created himself a fake background, with the help a friend, of course. After all, a fourteen year-old can only do so much. From his family to his hometown, Cloud was a new person. Even his age had been changed. With Cloud's small stature and baby skin, he barely passed for sixteen, the legal age, but he did.

But that was perfect for Cloud. In the journey from that place to Midgar, he felt like he had grown two years already. Even he had almost convinced himself that he was who he said he did. Almost. But no matter how hard he tried..._ that place _always lingered in his mind...

_'Enough! Don't think about it!'_

Anyway.

Shinra never really questioned it. A few staff members suspected that he wasn't actually sixteen, but few actually acted on their suspicions. Cloud had done a very effective job at destroying his records, especially since there had been so little to destroy in the first place. They let it go, and soon Cloud was a Shinra cadet. After all, who cared if this kid wasn't as old as he said to be? He was probably going to end up as cannon fodder anyway, right?

Wrong.

Eventually, at least. Cloud as a sixteen (fourteen) year old cadet was a short, scrawny child who had nothing to show for himself except for the goal implanted in his mind to fuel his determination.

But still, Cloud would have ended up as just another cadet lost in the ranks if not for one incident that changed his entire life.

Zack noticed him.

Cloud was small, but what he lacked in size, made up for in intelligence. He was extremely clever, and with his severe lacking in skills needed for a fight, his cleverness was the only thing keeping poor Cloud alive.

Zack was the first to notice Cloud. _Really_ notice him. Not just look and see a child who was hopelessly out of his league, but really see a intelligent boy with the brainpower needed in a potential great fighter.

But that was after Zack actually met Cloud. Of course, being Zack, all introductions must be eccentric.

Zack had been bored out of his mind as usual, and instead of going off to find someone to tease and annoy, had decided to take a peek and see how the cadets were progressing. As usual, no one really stood out in particular. Except... was that a chocobo? Why was there a chocobo taking notes in a cadet class?

Zack watched from behind the dirty window for about a minute more before realizing that the chocobo fluff was attached to a human head. It was a boy, not a chocobo! No way, not possible. Zack knew a chocobo when he saw a chocobo, and that was a chocobo. What Zack couldn't figure out was why it was in a cadet class. But then it hit him.

The chocobo must be in disguise and was going to steal Shinra information to tell the other chocobos and then they would rise up and crush Shinra and chocobos would be the dominant species!

Well, he couldn't let that happen now, could he?

Zack waited until the class ended and stood outside the door, ready to pounce on the chocobo-boy thing when it came out of the classroom. He ended up terrifing the small boy with his sudden and loud, boisterous chattering when Cloud left the classroom. He had been bewildered when all of a sudden, Zack Fair was rambling on in his direction. Not a single word he said registered in the poor boy's mind, and before he knew it, he was being dragged by his hand behind Zack towards the main Shinra building.

Unbeknownst to poor Cloud, Zack had full intention on finding his former mentor and his friends and showing them the wild chocobo he had found hiding with the cadets. He was taking the chocobo-in-a-cadet-costume as proof of his tale. How else would the three most powerful men in Shinra believe him?

By the time they arrived at Angeal's office, Cloud had regained his senses and had started fighting against the 1st class's grip. He did not succeed.

At this point, Cloud had started begging the poor people the duo passed in the hall for someone to get this psycho to let go.

No one helped him though. No body wanted to get in the middle of... whatever that was.

And so, with little to none pomp and circumstance, Zack barged into his dear mentor's office where the general and the commanders were conversing. Cloud had been fervently swearing and squawking his confusion as to why Zack kept called him a chocobo since he was clearly _not_ a chocobo, he has never _been_ a chocobo, and would never _be_ a chocobo. Cloud finally noticed that Zack had stopped dragging him and stopped pleading long enough to look up and see his superiors bewildered faces. Silence reigned for a good minute before Cloud let out a wail of despair and continued pleading for Zack to let him go.

The bewildered 1st class SOLDIERS watched the poor boy struggle against Zack's grip and plead for him to let go (or at least loosen his grip, it hurt!).

"Zack, what is the meaning of this?" Angeal asked, while Genesis and Sephiroth just sat there looking confused.

"I found a chocobo disguised as a cadet."

The stunned SOLDIERS simply stared at Zack for a moment. Angeal was the first to speak up.

"What do you mean by that, Zack?"

Zack was quick to reply, "I found a chocobo pretending to be a cadet so he could learn all of our secrets and tell all the other chocobos and then they would rise against us and chocobos would be the dominant species and we would all be forced to eat _carrots_, and_ lettuce_, and, Gaia forbid, _cucumbers!_"

Because, _clearly_ vegetables are the spawns of the original sins themselves and should never come within a five foot radius.

But that was just Zack's opinion.

The general and commanders let the sink in for a minute. Cloud continuing to deny he was a chocobo and plead to be let go. Angeal groaned and let his head clunk onto his desk while Genesis face palmed and Sephiroth attempted to make Zack let the poor boy go.

"Zack, let him go."

"But Seph-"

"Zack, now."

"But Sephy, the uprising! The_ vegetables_!"

"Now, Zack!"

"But..."

_"Lieutenant Zackary Fair, release the cadet now!"_

And with that, Zack released his grip on the chocobo boy and with a surprised yelp, Cloud tumbled onto the ground where he stared, petrified, up at his out-of-patience general.

"Cadet, what is your name?" Sephiroth asked, peering down at the petrified boy.

Cloud made several false starts before choking out, "Cloud Strife, Sir."

Cloud then proceeded to faint.

Cloud woke up several hours later, very tired, extremely thirsty, and utterly confused. Oh, and completely terrified. Cloud seemed to be resting on a plush leather couch in a rather luxurious apartment. He thought that was odd, since the cadet barracks are anything but luxurious. His tongue was as dry as a desert, and as hot as one as well. What terrified him though, was the curious face centimeters from his.

Cloud didn't scream though, no he started hyperventilating, he whimpered a couple times, he almost fainted again, but he most definitely did not scream. _Especially _not like a girl. He could barely make any sound, let alone scream.

Suddenly the face spoke. Loudly, Cloud may add. "Hey, Seph! Come over here I think he's waking up! And bring some water, will you? He's probably thirsty."

Cloud slowly started remembering his bizarre adventure with his psychopath superior. When he remembered fainting, right in front of his _idol_, he wanted to pass out all over again. Cloud finally registered the face above him belonging to his kidnapper, Zack. He then remembered just who Zack had called and he almost did faint.

Cloud's idol, Sephiroth appeared around a corner carrying a wet rag and a glass of ice water. The young blond was stunned into silence as his idol placed the rag on his forehead and handed the glass of water to Cloud. Cloud awoke from his stupor and sighed in relief at the wonderful coolness the rag gave him and greedily drank from the glass until there was not a drop left. Only then did he muster the courage to summon his voice and speak.

"S-sir? Where exactly am I? What's going on?" To Cloud's mortification, his voice came out high and squeaky, cracking a few times.

"You are in my home, Cadet Strife," Sephiroth replied.

That time, Cloud did faint. Again.

_'This fainting thing has got to stop,'_ Cloud thought as he succumbed to a black, dreamless sleep once again.

Meanwhile, Zack had started laughing the second he figured out that Cloud had fainted again.

"Heart of lion, this one! Hahahah!" Zack actually laughed so hard he fell off of his precarious perch on Sephiroth's coffee table.

The silver-haired man on the other hand, was confused as to why the cadet was sleeping again, and why his subordinate thought it was so funny. Sephiroth was not the brightest when it came to human emotions and habits you see, never mind that he's human himself. Sephiroth just assumed that the cadet simply needed more sleep and simply went on his forever-lasting belief that Zack was a moron and to pay no mind to his mischief.

Except when his mischief ends up giving him more paperwork to deal with, of course.

Sephiroth's attention returned to the chocobo-lookalike who was sleeping like the dead on his couch. It had been his decision to take the sleeping cadet to his apartment instead of the infirmary. Cloud really had nothing wrong with him, just a bad case of scares and stress. The general had decided it would be easier to simply care for the false-chocobo himself instead of trying to explain to the doctors and nurses just how the young blond had come to be this way. Angeal and Genesis went along with it and left him to watch after Cloud, while Zack refused to leave, wanting to see the cadet when he woke up.

He would never admit it to Zack, but he was right. The boy _did _look like a chocobo. A baby one, at that. A cute, little chickabo, who needed someone to rely on to protect him. He had a hard time believing that this delicate, fragile looking boy before him was actually sixteen and training to fight in the military. He looked more like a pretty, little prince who had been cared for all his life. Perhaps he was a prince from some fairy tale, running away to the military to prove he was not a porcelain doll.

But of course, that would never be. Shinra had wiped out such lands long ago and none exist today, but Sephiroth could still think about it, right?

Sephiroth was so far gone in his thoughts that he didn't even notice his stupid lieutenant's finger poking the poor, sleeping boy's face, cooing about how cute he was when he slept. However, the general's attention returned to his charge when a loud, grumpy moan came from Cloud and he turned over, trying to escape the probing finger.

Sephiroth felt a sudden urge of protectiveness and wanted nothing more than to destroy the person touching this adorable sleeping "prince." He let out a noise that sounded more or less like a feral growl and grabbed the dark haired man's hand before he managed to disturb the boy's slumber any more and pushed him away. Zack landed on his butt, staring up at his superior in shock and a little fear, his famous puppy pout forming on his face.

"Leave, Zack. I do not need you bothering the poor boy you so carelessly scared anymore than you already had," Sephiroth ordered, his face stony.

Zack registered the tone of Sephiroth's voice, and it honestly scared him. He didn't even question Sephiroth, just stood and left the man's apartment as quickly and quietly as possible while the silver-haired man went back to watching his little charge.

Sephiroth didn't know what it was about the boy and had no idea why he reacted the way he had. He simply had the desire to protect the boy from anything that may hurt him in any way. The legendary general had no explanation for his feelings, they confused him to no end. He simply decided to enact upon them and care for the young cadet at least until he was well again. He would see where that would take him then.

The general remained there for the rest of the day and well into the night, changing the rag on the boy's forehead at regular inturvals. Eventually, a couple minutes before midnight, Cloud stirred. Sephiroth's eyes never left the cadet's face as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room curiously, freezing when his gaze landed on the man next to him who was still firmly staring at Cloud.

Sephiroth was the first to speak, "Please don't be frightened. I would prefer if you stayed conscious." He murmured softly, careful not to scare the adorable boy in front of him.

Cloud visibly relaxed and smiled at his idol before replying, "Thank you very much for taking care of me. I apologize-"

Cloud's apology was quickly cut off by Sephiroth, "There is no need to apologize. I am happy to help you in any way that I can," He said, reaching out to stroke the boy's blushing cheek.

Cloud felt so embarrassed, but the hand on his cheek felt cool and nice, and he leaned into it. They duo sat like that for a while before a loud grumbling came from Cloud, declaring that he was hungry and demanding to be fed.

He blushed profusely once again, attempting to apologize again, only to be stifled by Sephiroth looking at him with eyes that clearly said to stop and left no room for argument.

Sephiroth asked Cloud what he would like to eat, only for Cloud to say that anything he had would be acceptable. Since he had nothing to go on, the silver-haired man simply warmed up Wutaian take-out.

Cloud seemed happy enough as he scarfed down the leftovers, and it satisfied Sephiroth to see the small boy happy.

Cloud had started growing used to the general's constant staring, and simply ignored it as he yawned happily and snuggled back into the couch to go back to sleep. Sephiroth, though, would have none of that.

To Cloud's surprise, Sephiroth quickly swept him off the cozy couch and into his arms, carrying him off to some unknown room in the apartment. They arrived in a room that Cloud assumed was the general's bedroom, and before could even protest, Cloud was stripped of his uncomfortable cadet uniform and left in his undershirt and boxers.

Every time the blond tried to tell his general that he could do this stuff himself, he's not a little kid, Sephiroth would simply shush the boy and continue pampering him. Soon, Cloud was tucked tightly under the warm blankets and plush pillows. It would have been easy to fall asleep if Sephiroth were not _still _staring. To be honest, it was downright unnerving, and yet at the same time it made Cloud feel safe.

In the end, Cloud simply decided to ignore the man as he once again for the third time, drifted off into darkness.

And several hours later, Cloud once again awoke to staring eyes. Except, these eyes were attached to a half naked body. A half naked body that was cuddling him to his chest. A half naked body that belonged to the freaking legendary General Sephiroth himself. (It should be known that at this precise moment, Cloud began questioning his sexuality.)

Oh dear.

Seeing his charge awaken, Sephiroth quickly attempted to soothe the startled blond, but he was unable to stop Cloud from turning a rather concerning and yet adorable shade of red.

Sephiroth didn't want his little chocobo to be unwell. Yes, the general had decided based on the protective feelings he felt for the boy, that Cloud was his little chocobo-boy. But, being himself and all, Sephiroth had no idea how to go about telling the slightly panicked cadet that he belonged to the general.

Again, oh dear.

As Sephiroth thought tried to decide how to go about this, Cloud had begun to attempt to free himself from the constricting arm. Unfortunately for him, said constricting arm simply held him tighter, refusing to let go. (Once again, at this point, Cloud had decided that he was at least bisexual.)

"Do tell me Cloud, why are you trying to leave?" Cloud froze when he heard the deep, rumbling voice of the man holding him captive. It sounded in no way threatening, more like worried, confused, and slightly afraid. Because Sephiroth truly was an awkward person. He had next to no idea how to communicate with others and simply could not understand why the small boy he claimed as his was trying to escape him. Of course, he didn't know that people don't typically claim others as their own, either.

Cloud frowned at the general's tone. Suddenly he had only the sole desire to stay and reassure Sephiroth that he had done nothing wrong. Cloud wasn't sure why he felt this way, but he knew he had to go back to the barracks. He had already missed several classes and who knows how much homework he probably had now?

"Sir, I have to get to class. I already missed several yesterday, all unexcused, too!" Cloud said, explaining why he had to leave.

Sephiroth didn't like this answer, but knew that he was right and Cloud had to go back. Reluctantly, he released the cadet, "I can give you a pass to excuse your absences." Cloud seemed very happy to hear this, and jumped out of the amazingly comfortable bed to put his cadet uniform back on. Sephiroth watched quietly from the bed, silently wishing the boy would come back and just not leave. Just before Cloud had a chance to leave however, Sephiroth stopped him with just a few words.

"Cloud, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

Cloud simply stared, speechless, at the handsome man sitting half-naked in bed.

(And at this point, Cloud discovered that he was one hundred percent gay.)

How could Cloud _possibly _say no? So he didn't. Well technically, he didn't say anything, he just nodded, shocked out of his mind.

Sephiroth smirked to himself, and slowly lifted himself from the bed and strode quickly to the boy and kissed the living daylights out of him. Eventually (and a very long eventually at that), they parted, and before Sephiroth left Cloud to proceed to his classes, he said, "No more of that "Sir" business. My name is Sephiroth, Choco-boy."

The rest is history.

And that brings us to Cloud's present life, two wonderful years later. Of course, Sephiroth and Cloud's relationship was never easy, no not at all. They had several bumps in the road, from major problems such as Cloud being threatened by the Silver Elite, to minor problems like little spats about which movie they should watch or should they get pizza or Wutaian.

But still, outsiders saw their relationship as a loving one, two people who loved each other with all their hearts.

The past two years had been very kind to Cloud. Not only did he have an amazing, loving boyfriend, but with said boyfriend's help, he had made SOLDIER Third Class and was well on his way to becoming Second Class.

Currently, the two lovebirds were strolling happily down the busy Midgar street, completely oblivious to the bustling crowd around them, discussing where they should go out to eat. Likewise for the surrounding crowd, in a see of dark-haired people, the silver-haired general and spiky, blond, chocobo-butt hair stood out quite a lot.

Unfortunately for them, their signature hair that made them so attractive, would also be poor Cloud's perfect two year's downfall. For Cloud was not the sole blond in this sea of black and brown. There was another, a newcomer to the bustling city of Midgar, and while looking around, trying to find her way, she noticed a spiky blond head that she never thought she would see again.

"Kuraudo...?" the girl murmured to herself, peering at the familiar spiky mess of hair, nearly shouting in joy when the spiky mess turned slightly so she could see the vibrant blue eyes.

"Kuraudo! Kuraudo Sutoraifu!" She yelled, jumping up and down and trying to push her way through the crowd to the blond man. Said blond man had grown stiff, thinking he heard that dreaded name that he had hoped he would never have to hear again. After a second of not hearing anything but the babble of the street, he shook it off and kept walking, hand in hand with his beloved general.

"Kuraudo! Kuraudo Sutoraifu! Kuraudo, modotte kuru!" There it was again. This time Cloud was sure of it. They had found him. He stopped moving completely, his confused lover asking what was wrong. Slowly, Cloud turned his head in the direction the calls were coming from, and was shocked to see another blond mop of hair coming straight for him. Quickly he turned back around and attempted to pull his way through the slowly thickening crowd in an effort to escape that horribly call.

But of course, Gaia hated Cloud and the crowd seemed to thicken and prevent Cloud from escaping, his thoroughly confused lover beside him. And to make it worse, the calls were rapidly getting louder, and Cloud could even pick out an individual set of footsteps, one he had heard since he was small.

Suddenly, Cloud heard nothing but the footsteps, and before he knew it, the owner of said footsteps collided with his back, clinging desperately to his leather jacket and sobbing her eyes out in relief.

If Cloud knew this was going to happen today, he would have moved to Wutai.

No, he would have moved to another _planet_.

Cloud mustered up all of his courage and was about to turn around and face his doom, when the fervent sobbing turned into terrified squeals because a very jealous, very _possessive _lover of a certain spiky-blond had become upset because there was a small, distressed female clinging to his fragile (at least in Sephiroth's mind, all though if Cloud heard him say that, Sephiroth would be sleeping on the couch for a month) lover.

"What do you want, girl?" Sephiroth growled at the frightened teenage girl.

The poor blonde was unable to say a single word in her defense, she was so scared. Thankfully, Cloud came to her rescue. "Seph, it's alright. Please let her go."

Reluctantly, the silver-haired man put the girl back on her feet, where she immediately attached herself to Cloud and started sobbing anew. Sephiroth almost grabbed her again. The girl nearly pissed herself. The scary man was glaring at her with his odd cat-eyes and it was unnerving. Why the man was so attached to Cloud, she had no idea, but it was on her list of things to find out.

Cloud simply rubbed the girl's back and cooed softly to her, trying to calm her down, while gently edging her more towards the buildings and away from the steady river of people. Once the girl had been sufficiently calmed, she attempted to speak to Cloud in the language that only the two of them seemed to know.

"Kuraudo... why did you leave?" she whimpered, hugging Cloud's chest. She didn't notice when Cloud flinched at the sound of the first word.

Cloud didn't answer, and the girl quickly became angry, "Kuraudo, answer me! Is _this _where you've been hiding all this time?! I can't believe you! Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you?! Do you have any idea how badly you've scared our _mother_?! Kuraudo, I've known her for as long as I can remember, and I have never, _ever _seen her cry until she realized you were missing! How dare you! How _dare _you leave us without so much as a fucking goodbye! Congratulations, Kuraudo, I hope you got what you wanted. You know what? Fuck you, Kuraudo Sutoraifu. Fuck you." By the time the girl stopped, she was red in the face and out of breath.

Cloud simply smiled sadly and said, "Nice to see you too, Komorebi-imouto."

Komorebi beamed at her foster brother with happy tears forming in her eyes, squealed in delight, and tackled him in a huge hug.

"You have no idea how much I've missed hearing you say that, Kuraudo-onii."

Sephiroth just stared at the two hugging blonds, confused out of his mind.

* * *

Thanks for reading! This will be updated periodically whenever I decide the next chapter is ready. Please be patient until then! As always, reviews are always welcome!


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